Examiners Report June 2010

Transcription

1 Examiners Report June 2010 GCE Government and Politics 6GP04 4D Edexcel Limited. Registered in England and Wales No Registered Office: One90 High Holborn, London WC1V 7BH

2 ii Edexcel is one of the leading examining and awarding bodies in the UK and throughout the world. We provide a wide range of qualifications including academic, vocational, occupational and specific programmes for employers. Through a network of UK and overseas offices, Edexcel s centres receive the support they need to help them deliver their education and training programmes to learners. For further information, please call our GCE line on , our GCSE team on , or visit our website at If you have any subject specific questions about the content of this Examiners Report that require the help of a subject specialist, you may find our Ask The Expert service helpful. Ask The Expert can be accessed online at the following link: ResultsPlus is Edexcel s free online tool that offers teachers unrivalled insight into exam performance. You can use this valuable service to see how your students performed according to a range of criteria at cohort, class or individual student level. Question-by-question exam analysis Skills maps linking exam performance back to areas of the specification Downloadable exam papers, mark schemes and examiner reports Comparisons to national performance For more information on ResultsPlus, or to log in, visit To set up your ResultsPlus account, call June 2010 Publications Code UA All the material in this publication is copyright Edexcel Ltd 2010

3 1 Introduction A good proportion of responses to the questions showed that candidates had been well prepared for the examination and possessed appropriate and often substantial knowledge and understanding. Three broad factors had a particular influence on the hierarchy of performance. First, as applies to examinations generally, there was a difference between candidates who had read the question carefully and focused on the specific issue or issues raised, and those who tended, to a greater or lesser extent, to write about the general theme of the question. Second, performance was variable in relation to the conceptual and theoretical understanding that is expected of candidates. Better candidates could define and explain terms with confidence and understood the theoretical dimension of questions, while weaker candidates tended to think, and write, in terms of empirical developments only. Third, the synoptic requirements of the essays were dealt with more or less successfully. The most successful candidates recognised that every essay question is now an invitation for candidates to engage in a debate or discussion, in which there are two or more sides to the argument, sometimes, but not always, rooted in contending theoretical perspectives. Weaker responses, however, tended to be analytical rather than evaluative, providing information and demonstrating knowledge and understanding but without developing an overall argument based on an awareness of rival views.

4 2 Question 1 It is recognised that there is much debate about whether, and the extent to which, 9/11 altered the nature of terrorism. Nevertheless, a number of well-publicised allegations have been made about this, and many candidates showed an awareness of these issues. A surprisingly small number of candidates offered a definition of terrorism at the outset, which would have provided a helpful context in which to consider how 9/11 may have redefined the phenomenon. Attention, reasonably, fell on issues such as the transnational or even global nature of modern terrorism, its religious basis by contrast with the supposed political and ideological basis of earlier terrorism, the changed tactics of Islamist terrorists and especially al-qaeda (suicide attacks and attacks on simultaneous targets), and the catastrophic nature of terrorism when terrorists use weapons of mass destruction, such as passenger airplanes. Weak answers to this question tended to misread the question. Instead of discussing the nature of terrorism and how it has been redefined, they examined the implications and consequences of 9/11, sometimes drifting into a generalised account of the war on terror and its successes and failures. Unless such an analysis was used to reflect back on the nature of terrorism itself, it often was simply irrelevant.

5 3 Examiner Comments This candidate's response sits right at the top of the Level 2 mark band.

6 4 Question 2 Good responses were able to link the idea of a North-South Divide to the so-called Brandt Reports of 1980 and The strongest responses recognised that the idea of a North-South Divide was developed as an alternative to the notion of East-West conflict and was used to draw attention to supposedly structural inequalities that advantage the industrialised North and systematically disadvantaged the predominantly rural South. The most common, and successful, approach to the idea that the North-South Divide is now outdated was to examine developments in the global South that highlight growing divisions, particularly due to the rise of China, India, Brazil and other emerging economies, linked also to the particular plight of sub-saharan Africa. Treating the South as a single entity is therefore less appropriate, at least in this respect. Weak responses to this question tended to suffer from either a lack of knowledge and understanding or from a poor focus. For example, some responses attempted to explain the outdated nature of the North-South Divide on the basis that developments such as a growing clash of civilisations, without even trying to explain how and why the latter may undermine the former.

7 5 Examiner Comments This is an example of a mid Level 3 mark band response.

8 6 Question 3 Strong responses were able to explain that environmental issues create tensions between developed and developing countries because they have, in a large number of cases, emerged as a consequence of the process of industrialisation. Developed countries, because they are developed, are thus the principal source of most environmental problems. Most responses, understandably, explained this in terms of climate change. In weak cases this led to unexplained and undeveloped references to countries common but differentiated responsibilities over climate change. Strong responses, by contrast, were able to explain how and why developed and developing countries have differentiated responsibilities, often pointing out that the developing world does not believe that a problem that has essentially been caused by the developed world should be used to prevent its people from enjoying prosperity and living standards that are customary elsewhere in the world. Further sources of tension have arisen from the fact that the impact of climate change has disproportionately affected the developing world. An issue little commented on is the suggestion made by many developing countries, and especially by China, that emissions targets should take account of population size and be set per capita rather than for a state as a whole. This proposal is, not surprisingly, strongly opposed by less populous developing countries.

9 7 Examiner Comments This candidate's response is mid Level 2 mark band.

10 8 Question 4 Only good responses to this question started by defining international human rights. In the best cases, this was done by defining human rights as universal, absolute and fundamental rights, and pointing out that international human rights are human rights as they appear in a variety of international documents, the most important being the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights. Weak responses to this question were not able to identify different types of international human rights, only different human rights. In these cases, responses did little more than identify a number of examples of what might be considered alleged human rights. Stronger responses recognised that there are conceptual differences between different kinds of human rights, often seen as being divided into three generations of human rights, civic and political rights; economic, social and cultural rights; and so-called people s or solidarity rights. The main discriminator, then, was between responses that did little more than describe these various rights and more sophisticated responses that analysed differences between and amongst them. The best responses, for example, noted divisions between allegedly liberal or negative political rights, that require forbearance on the part of government, and supposedly socialist or positive economic rights, which require active intervention on the part of government. Other legitimate approaches to this question focused on different divisions between international human rights, for instance between human rights that supposedly belong to individuals and human rights that are enjoyed by groups or communities. Some candidates demonstrated a very sophisticated awareness of the idea of different generations of human rights.

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12 10 Examiner Comments This is an example of a low Level 3 response.

13 11 Question 5 Many answers to this question show considerable insight into the debt crisis, explaining that it applied to a growing number of poorer countries that found it difficult, and eventually impossible, to service their debts, threatening many Northern banks with collapse and also deepening poverty in the developing world. There were some very impressive responses that highlighted the political and economic context in which this debt crisis occurred. Accounts of how, and the extent to which, the debt crisis has been resolved tended to focus on two main developments. In the first place, responses examined the role of the IMF and the World Bank in providing further loans to countries experiencing debt crises, usually linked to conditions about implementation of structural adjustments. Many responses were able to examine the relatively poor impact of these programmes, which were sometimes associated with deepening poverty and entrenched under-development. The other approach was to consider the progress made by debt relief or debt cancellation. The best responses demonstrated an awareness of both of these developments, often showing considerable insight into the HIPC Initiative as well as the G8 Gleneagles Agreement of 2005.

14 12 Examiner Comments This candidate just manages to get into the Level 2 mark band.

15 13 Question 6 There were some very impressive and well informed answers to this question. The best responses showed a good awareness of both sides of the argument, recognising the association of nuclear proliferation with the growing possibility of nuclear war as well as understanding how and why realists in particular have linked nuclear proliferation to international stability and peace. In such cases, strong candidates often demonstrated an impressive understanding of deterrents theory and, in particular, of the idea of Mutually Assured Destruction. Some responses also showed an awareness of the contrasting ideas of nuclear utilisation theory. However, weaker responses sometimes appeared to be framed in the context of the Cold War and failed to take account of more recent developments, not least about nuclear weapons getting into the wrong hands. Strong responses, by contrast, showed an awareness of the difference between the first nuclear age ( ) and the second nuclear age (post 1990), analysing how the dynamics of nuclear proliferation have, arguably, become more complex and threatening in the latter period. Good responses were also able to make effective use of modern examples, particularly the acquisition of nuclear weapons by India and Pakistan, the development of nuclear weapons by North Korea and the seemingly imminent acquisition of nuclear weapons by Iran. Good responses also took account, where appropriate of the significance of recent initiatives to ensure nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament.

16 14 GCE Government and Politics 6GP04 4D

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18 16 GCE Government and Politics 6GP04 4D

19 17 Examiner Comments This is a high scoring candidate who achieved the top mark band on all four marking grids.

20 18 Question 7 Once again, a surprisingly small number of responses started with a discussion about the nature of humanitarian intervention. In some weaker cases, humanitarian intervention was portrayed as a historical constant, rather than as a trend that became particularly marked during the 1990s. Similarly, some weak responses to this question focused very heavily on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. While these wars could be viewed as relevant to the question as set, in that supporters of these wars have used humanitarian justification to defend them, they are by no means classic examples of humanitarian intervention, and their use to the exclusion of other more appropriate examples suggests a serious failure to understand the term at the centre of the question. Nevertheless, most responses understood that this was an area of particular debate and discussion. In the most impressive cases, the arguments for and against humanitarian intervention were grounded in rival liberal and realist principles and assumptions. For example, pro-humanitarian intervention arguments were often associated with universalist doctrines, notably a belief in human rights, as well as the idea that states have a duty to protect their own citizens and if this duty is not carried out, it falls on the international community at large. By contrast, realists have argued that it is both inappropriate for states to act in the interests of foreign citizens and unwise for them to get involved in internal conflicts of which they have little understanding and insufficient capacity to resolve. In the best cases, candidates were able to discuss humanitarian intervention in both moral and legal terms, sometimes recognising the conflicts that exist within international law between treaties and conventions that emphasise non-intervention and a growing body of customary international law that is based on human rights and humanitarian standard-setting.

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22 20 GCE Government and Politics 6GP04 4D

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24 22 GCE Government and Politics 6GP04 4D

25 23 Examiner Comments This candidate achieves the top mark band for Knowledge and Understanding, and Intellectual Skills, but the middle band for Synoptic skills and Communication and coherence.

26 24 Question 8 This question was popular, and it was done well by a significant proportion of candidates. In the best cases, responses showed an awareness of a variety of attempts to tackle the issue of climate change, usually including the Rio Earth Summit of 1992, the Kyoto Conference of 1997 and the Copenhagen Conference of In some cases, candidates demonstrated very thorough knowledge of the outcomes of Copenhagen in particular, as well as the ability to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the resulting agreement. Generally, the international community s failure to take concerted action over climate change was stressed at the expense of the progress it has made, for example, many responses failed to take account of the fact that Kyoto at least established legally binding targets for a range of developed countries and Copenhagen at least demonstrated that the USA and China are willing to participate in the process of developing a response to the challenge of climate change. On the other hand, strong responses often went beyond cataloguing the failures of the international community and, in addition, analysed the problems and difficulties confronting the international community on the issue of climate change. These included the tragedy of the commons and the free rider problem, conflicts between developed and developing countries, and great power politics, notably rivalry between the USA and China or the USA and the rest. Weak responses to this question tended to be characterised by insufficient knowledge and understanding, or knowledge and understanding that was not used as a basis for analysis and evaluation. Blatantly one-sided answers also failed to meet requirements as far as synopticity is concerned.

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28 26 GCE Government and Politics 6GP04 4D

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30 28 GCE Government and Politics 6GP04 4D

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32 30 GCE Government and Politics 6GP04 4D

33 31 Examiner Comments This candidate shows very good knowledge and understanding, and just achieves the top mark band on the other three marking grids.

34 32 Grade Boundaries Grade Max. Mark a* A B C D E N U Raw mark boundary Uniform mark scale boundary a* is only used in conversion from raw to uniform marks. It is not a published unit grade.

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36 Further copies of this publication are available from Edexcel Publications, Adamsway, Mansfield, Notts, NG18 4FN Telephone Fax Order Code UA June 2010 For more information on Edexcel qualifications, please visit Edexcel Limited. Registered in England and Wales no Registered Office: One90 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7BH